Skeleton shirt



June 5, 1928.

1,671,986 F. GORDON SKELETON SHIRT Filed Aug. 11, 1923 lnvenTor.

Frank Gord by z waawawr w Any" Patented June 5, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

I FRANK GORDON, OF WALTEAH, MASSACHUSETTS.

SKELETON SHIRT.

Application filed August 11, 1926. Serial No. 128,584. This invention relates to improvements in to the body of a wearer shown dotted ll skeleton shirts, particularly for uniform lines, and also illustrating a tie of the fourshirts with which a coat or over-garment is ln-hand type in position upon said shirt; required to be used. Fig. 2 is a similar perspective view of a' The general object of the invention is to shirt applied to the body of the wearer as provide a skeleton shirt of this character viewed from the front; 00 which will present a front substantially Fig. 3 is a plan view of the shirt embodyidentical in appearance with the usual shirt ing the invention showing the parts thereof fronts, and particularly those required in in extended or developed position; and,

service uniforms, police uniforms, and uni- Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view on line forms of other organizations. 4-4, Fig. 3, showing the manner in which 65 A further object of the invention is to the central box plait of the front of the shirt provide a shirt of the character described is formed.

with a permanently attached roll collar The shirt illustrated in the accompanying which may be so'eonstructed as to conform drawing comprises a front 1 presenting at to regulations for uniforms and which can its upper end a curved recess 2 for the neck 70 be readily laundered together with the skeleof the wearer and shoulder portions 3 and 4:

ton shirt. adapted to extend to the vertical plane of A further object of the invention is to the top of the shoulders of the wearen The provide a novel tie-holding means which front 1 as illustrated is provided with a may include means for retaining the tie upon horizontal lower end 5 'to which a flap 6 75 the shirt band, and also means for retainin desirably is attached by a line of stitching 7 the free end of the tie in place when tie and presents a curved edge portion adapted one or both of these devices preferably being to conform to the groin of the wearer.

2 employed. The body of the front as illustrated is A further object of the invention is to provided with -a central box plait 8 which so rovide means for securing the ends of the is folded from the material of the body porcollar together at a distance from the upper tion in such a manner that the abutting inedge of the collar in order that the movefolded edges 9 and 10 are united by a line ment of the neck of the wearer will not be of stitching 11 substantially beneath the restricted by the upper edge of the collar. longitudinal center of the box plait. A line 5 A further and important object of the inof stitching 12 extends in parallelism with vention is to provide means for securing the and in proximity to one of the edges of the front of a skeleton shirt of this character in box plait and passes through both the layclose engagement with the chest and waist ers of the box plait and the body of the of the wearer, while permitting freedom of garment. Another false line of stitching on movement of the arms of the wearer with- 13 is located in a symmetrical position with out displacing the front. respect to the other edge of the box plait,

A further object of the invention is to but extends only through the layers of the provide a shirt of this character with means box plait so that the edge 14 of the box enabling it either to be bloused or held plait presents an appearance simulating that tightly against the body. of an open shirt front. A series of buttons Other objects and features of the inven- 15 are located at suitable distances along tion will more fully appear from the folthe center of the box plait and complete the 45 lowing description and the accompanying simulated appearance of an open front shirt.

drawing and W111 be particularly pointed out A yoke 16 is attached'by a suitable line of in the claims. stitching to the shoulder portion 3 of the The invention is illustrated in the accomfront. The upper edge of the yoke is curved panying drawing as embodied in a skeleton to conform to the neck of the wearer and the shirt having a front conforming to standard lower edge 17 thereof desirably is also regulations of the United States Army. curved, but presents a somewhat greater 10 In the drawing: curvature to provide suitable fullness and Fig. 1 is a perspective vlew of a skeleton also to avoid square corners which would shirt embodying the invention as applied interfere with the proper fitting of the yoke,

sufficiently stiff, though purposes of ironing.

or would be improperly engaged by overgarments. The free edge portion of the yoke 16 is provided with a buttonhole 18 adapted to be engaged by a button 19 upon the other shoulder portion 4 of the front. Of course, other suitable means of fastening may be provided for securing the end of the yoke.

One of the principal features of the present invention consists in providing a onepiece collar band and collar secured to the front and to the yoke to form an integral construction and also to provide sufficient stiffness to the collar to retain it in place and also to provide a' construction which can be readily laundered.

The preferred construction comprises a collar band 20 which to the upper portion of the front and extends from the upper edge of the shoulder portion 4 along the neck recess, across the upper end of the opposite shoulder portion 3, thence along the upper edge of the yoke 16 with an extension 21 projecting beyond the free end of the yoke a suflicient distance to permit the collar band to extend around the neck of the wearer and to overlap the attached portion above the middle of the out.

The collar band 20 desirably comprises two layers-an outer layer and an inner layer-of similar contour, stitched together at their edges with the front and yoke con nected by the line of stitching 22 at the lower end of said layers, and a roll collar 23, preferably of double thickness, having its edge connected between the upper edges of said collar band layers by the line of stitching 24, which connects the upper edges of the inner and outer layers of the collar band. By reason of this construction a flexible, collar band is provided which will hold its shape, while the roll collar can be readily straightened out into the plane of the collar band for illustrated is secured The extension 21-of the collar band is provided with a plurality of buttonholes 25 and 26 located in proximity to the lower edge of the collar band, these buttonholes being adapted to engage buttons 27 and 28 upon the portion of the collar band which is attached to the front so that the collar band will be retained closely to fit the neck ortion of the front. The end of the collar hand 21 is also provided at approximately the middle of its width with another buttonsuflic'ient freedom to yield to the of the neck thus making the collar much the body of the wearer,

face of the collar at the opposite end thereof cated somewhatbelow the middle of the Width of the collar so that the knot of a four-in-hand tie may be located over the tab and thereby conceal it. A loop 33 to re. ceive a tie 34 is located at the middle of the back of the collar band and serves both to A further and important feature of the invention consists in providing means for properly holding the front in engagement with the chest and Waist of the wearer. This is accomplished by providing a belt 35 ich may be attached to the edge of the shirt or to astrap 36 which in turn is attached to the edge of the shirt at substantially the waist line, and a buckle 37 secured to a strap 38 similarly secured to the opposite edge of the front at approximately the waist line, together with straps 39 and 40 exrespectively at the chest portion of the front. By reason of this construction the belt 35, which passes horizontally about holds the front in loose contact with the waist of the wearer, while the straps 39 and 40 cause the upper portion and shoulders of the front closely to engage the body of the wearer. This construction prevents displacement of the front irrespective of the bending of the body. or the raising of one or both of the arms, while permitting suflicient freedom of movement of the front to permitthe movement of the arms and body without restriction.

In uniform shirts, such as are illustrated in the accompanying drawing, pockets 41 and 42 are provided at opposite sides of the longitudinally extending box plait and the ends of the straps 36 and 39, 38 and 40, de-

sirably are secured of stitching which front.

to the front by the lines secure the pockets to the Another feature of the invention consists in providing a tie-holding strap 43 which extends across the box plait and is secured at its edges by the seams which secure the pockets to the front. The lower end of the tie 34 is passed beneath the strap 43 and is thereby prevented from being blown aside or dropping down when the wearer bends over.

' ed to be engaged by sweater, or other Desirably the flap -6 at the lower end of the front is provided with a button 44 adapta tab 45 sewed upon the inner faceof the front in such position that when the button 44 is held thereby the flap will be folded against the back of the front along the line of the lower edge of the front. By reason of this construction the flap may be raised out of the trousers of the wearer when it. is desired to use the front over a sweater. \Vhen the flap is in extended position and located within the trousers of the wearer the front may be given a slightly bloused a pearance,

It will e obvious that a skeleton shirt embodying the-invention above described may be worn with any sort of an over-garment, such as a military coat, and that it may be worn either with or without an underlying over-garment. 'When worn beneath a uniform coat it will present the appearance of a shirt of the required service type. It will not become disarranged by the movements of the wearer. It can be readily put on and taken off, thereby saving considerable time which otherwise would be reuired in dressing. In view of the fact that t e loop at the back of the collar serves to retain the tie upon the shirt, misplacement of the tie is avoided and speedy dressing facilitated. When the collar is fastened and the tie is tied over the connecting tab 31, the assembly conforms to the standard service requirements and the tie is held in proper posit-ion by the stra 43 which extends between the pockets of the shirt. The longitudinally extending box plait constructed as above described causes the shirt to have the appearance of an open front shirt, but detachment and loss of a button will, of course,

- not cause an opening of the front of the forms in appearance shirt such as would ccur if the front were of the open type.

It will, therefore, be obvious that the invention herein produces a shirt which conto the standard service uniforms of the United States, of police departments, and other organizations, while providing a much cooler clothing for the body than the usual regulation shirts.

It will be understood that while the invention is described herein with particular reference to uniform shirts, the front of the shirt may be modified to present any desired appearance. It will also be understood that any suitable material, as to fabric or color, may be employed in the construction of the arment.

It will, therefore, be understood that the particular embodiment of the invention disclosed herein is of an illustrative character and is not restrictive, and that various changes in form, construction and arrangement of parts may be made within the spirit and scope of the following claims.

for detachably securing the overlapping free the collar and co-operating Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is:

1. A skeleton shirt comprising a front presentin at its upper end a curved recess and shoul er portions, a yoke permanently connected to one of said shoulder portions, means for detachably connecting the free end of said yoke to the other shoulder portion, a collar band, having an attached roll collar, permanently connected to said front and yoke throughout'the curved neck portion and the yoke and extending therebeyond a sufficient distance to overlie the attached portion of said collar band and to cause the collar to surround the'neck and having a tab extending beyond the free end of the collar to underlie the attached end of the collar, means, located at spaced intervals,

portion of the collar band near its lower edge to the attached portion thereof and means for detachably securing the central end portion of said tab to the overlapped collar band, whereby the adjacent upper portions of the collar will be permitted to yield'to movements of the neck.

2. A skeleton shirt presenting at its upper end a curved neck recess and shoulder portions, a yoke permanently connected to one of said shoulder portions, means for detachably connecting the free end of said yoke to the other shoulder portion, a collar band, having an attached roll collar, permanently connected to said front and yoke throughout the curved neck portion and the yoke and extending therebeyond a suflicient distance to overlie the attached portion of said collar band and to cause the collar to surround the neck and 1 having a tab extending beyond the free end of the collar to underlie the attached end of the collar, means, located at spaced intervals, for detachably securing the overlapping free portion of the collar band near its lower edge to the attached portion thereof, means for detachably securing the central end portion of said tab to the overlapped collar band, whereby the adjacent upper portions of the collar will be. permitted to yield to movements of the neck and a tab attached to the inner face of one end of the collar adapted to extend beneath the other end of means for detachably securing the free end of said tab thereto, whereby said tab will lie beneath a tie when applied to the collar.

3. A skeleton shirt comprising a presenting at its upper end a curved neck recess and shoulder portions, a yoke permanently connected to one of said shoulder portions, means for detachably connecting the free end of the yoke to the other shoulder portion, a collar band, having an attached comprising a front front roll collar, permanently connected to said ll.

front and yoke and means for connecting the free end of the collar and collar'band to said front and a tie-holding loop located at the back of the collar band and having its ends secured between the collar and band, whereby the tie will be retained by said loop when the collar is unfastened and the shirt removed.

4. A skeleton shirt comprising a front presenting at its upper end a curved neck recess and shoulder portions, a yoke uniting said shoulder portions, pockets stitched upon said front on opposite sides of the middle of said front and spaced apart therefrom, and a tieholding strap extending across the middle of said front having its ends secured beneath adjacent edges of said pockets by the stitching which secures the pockets to the front.

5. A skeleton shirt comprising a front presenting at its upper end a curved neck recess and shoulder portions and presenting a horizontal lower end, a yoke uniting said shoulder portions, a collar band, having an attached roll collar, permanently connected to said front and yoke, means for detachably connecting the free end of said collar to said collar band, and a flap secured to the lower horizontal end of said front presenting a curved edge and formed to conform to the groin of the wearer, and o-operating fastening means upon said flap and front for securing the flap in folded position against the inner side of said front.

6. A skeleton shirt comprising a front having a central box plait extending longitudinally thereof with the in'folded abutting edges of said box plait secured together substantially centrally of said plait, a line of stitching located in parallelism'with and in proximity to one edge of said plait securing said plait to the body of the front and a false line of stitching symmetrically located in respect to the opposite edge of said plait, but passing only through the layers of said plait, whereby the free edge of said plait will resemble an open front. a

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

FRANK GORDON 

